Photon torpedo
"Photon torpedo: isn't that the universal greeting when communications are down?" :"I think it's the universal greeting when you don't like someone." ::- William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge ( ) Photon torpedoes were warp-capable tactical matter/antimatter weapons commonly deployed aboard starships and starbases by various organizations. Photon torpedoes, often abbreviated as "photons", were called Pu'DaH dak cha in Klingonese. ( , etc.; ) History Klingons began using photon torpedoes by at least the mid-22nd century. They used them extensively on board scout ships, as well as Birds-of-Prey. In comparison, during the same period that Earth's Starfleet was still employing the spatial torpedo, although they soon upgraded to photonic torpedoes, the precursors to the photon torpedo. ( ) The Starfleet vessels, operated by the United Federation of Planets, began using photon torpedoes by at least 2267. ( ) The 24th century saw the deployment of an improved type of ordnance in the year 2371: the quantum torpedo. Nonetheless, photons continued to be utilized along with the new quantum torpedoes by such starships as the . ( ; ) Overview nanoprobes]] The components of a Federation photon torpedo were contained within an elongated elliptical casing, also known as a photon tube. The weapon was armed with a photon warhead. The warhead had a detonation chamber filled with antimatter. Upon detonation the torpedo created a matter-antimatter explosion. ( , ; ; ; ) A photon torpedo with a 25 isoton yield can destroy an entire city within seconds. ( ) Torpedoes used by the Federation in 2365 could burrow through the surface of a planet intact. By 2367 the shields of a torpedo could protect it for several seconds, during which the torpedo entered a sun and burrowed into its stellar core. The torpedo flight engine was a sustainer engine that used reactants carried on board for power. Klingon and Federation photon torpedoes had a frequency, related to that of its target's deflector shield frequency modulation, measured in megahertz. When both were matched torpedoes could penetrate the shields of the target starship. ( ; ; ) When launched, Federation photon torpedoes expelled plasma exhaust into the torpedo tube. ( ) Federation photon torpedoes had a subspace detonator. It was activated remotely when a torpedo launch was aborted and the torpedo destroyed. ( ) In 2365, Geordi La Forge increased antimatter charges on the Pakled ship the Mondor. This turned the Pakled weapons into photon torpedoes. ( ) When fired by a starship without shields at a target in close range, a single photon detonation had a high probability of destroying the firing ship as well. In 2365, the unshielded was destroyed with a single photon torpedo hit. The stayed at a distance of forty kilometers. ( ) .}} In 2367, if a torpedo was fired by a Galaxy-class starship with shields, at a target in close range, the torpedo explosion could cripple the firing ship. When shield strength was increased 300 percent, the ship remained undamaged when a full spread of maximum yield torpedoes was detonated at close range. ( ) In that same year, the range of a Federation photon torpedo was slightly below 300,000 kilometers. ( ) In 2368, Federation photon torpedo warhead yields had at least 16 preset levels. A large explosion was created with five torpedoes set to level 16. ( ) With thoron fields and duranium shadows false sensor readings of photon torpedoes could be created to fool enemy ships. ( ) In 2370, Quark arranged the sale of 200 Pygorian photon torpedoes, among other items, to the Maquis through their gun runner Sakonna. ( ) Federation photon torpedo types starships carried an inventory of Mark VI torpedoes with terminium casings in 2285, and Mark VII photon torpedoes in 2293. At least the Mark VII torpedoes could not be programmed to fire themselves without a torpedo launcher. ( ; ; ) In 2370, Galaxy-class ships received a weapons upgrade that increased the explosive yield of photon torpedoes by eleven percent. Later that year, photon warheads used on Deep Space 9 were labeled as "Pho-torp Mark IV components". ( ; ) was equipped with type-6 photon torpedoes. They were not in use before Voyager was launched in 2371. Some of these torpedoes had a yield of 25 isotons. A class-6 warhead in this type of torpedo had the explosive yield of 200 isotons. These torpedoes had an effective range of approximately 8 million kilometers. The class-6 torpedoes are not capable of creating tears into subspace. ( ) to provide an explosion of 80 isotons, when a standard photon warhead would provide more than twice that destructive force.}} A class-10 torpedo could be armed with an even more powerful high yield warhead. ( ) A computer screen used by impostors in 2376 identifies the standard issue torpedoes of USS Voyager to be Mark XXV. ( ) Other uses ]] ]] * It has become something of a Starfleet tradition to place dead crewmembers inside an empty torpedo casing, and often such torpedoes are launched into space. The tradition is similar to the ancient Earth tradition of the burial at sea. :Spock, Enrique Muñiz, Captain Lisa Cusak, and Jadzia Dax were placed in empty torpedo casings after their deaths. Spock's body was launched towards the rapidly-forming Genesis Planet. It is unknown, however, as to whether or not Cusak's or Jadzia Dax's body were launched into space, or if they were returned home for more traditional ceremonies. ( ; ) Non-Starfleet personnel have also received this type of burial. Dr. Ira Graves' body was beamed into space in a tube with a transparent window to display his face. Lieutenant John Kelly's corpse, recovered from a graviton ellipse in 2376, was launched into space in a standard torpedo tube. ( ; ) * In 2293, Spock and McCoy modified a photon torpedo to follow the trail of ionized gas from Chang's Bird-of-Prey at Uhura's suggestion. This exposed the cloaked Bird-of-Prey and allowed its destruction by the and the . ( ) * A volley of Romulan photon torpedoes was credited for catalysing a Kerr loop out of superstring material, that resulted in a symmetrical temporal rift, a wormhole without definable a center or event horizon, between 2344 and 2366. ( ) * In 2368, Data used a "high-energy burst level 6" yield setting on the photon torpedo warheads to expose tachyon signatures with inertial displacement as a convoy of cloaked Romulan Warbirds. This setting presumably did not damage the Warbirds. ( ) * Torpedoes could also be deployed like mines. When released as mines, the torpedoes did not glow in any way. Armed torpedoes could be transported via the transporter to a specific location to detonate. ( ) * In 2364 Federation photon torpedoes had a display blast setting. A spread of torpedoes at this setting were detonated a kilometer from the surface of Ligon II as a warning burst to demonstrate the power of a starship. ( ) * Photon torpedoes could be used for illumination. Torpedoes were used, by manually configuring them to emit illuminatory bursts with the initial dispersal of 6.9 kilometers, to illuminate dark matter particles in the Mar Oscura Nebula. ( ) A torpedo was similarly modified to be a "warp flare", by reconfiguring it to emit a sustained polyluminous burst, for illumination in a region of space with a heavy concentration of theta radiation. ( ) * Doctor Timicin from Kaelon II made several modifications to the guidance system of Federation photon torpedoes that would enable him to implement his theory of helium fusion enhancement and possibly revitalize the Kaelon sun. ( ) * Modifications to a photon torpedo could be made, so that a detonation inside a supernova remnant, like the MacPherson Nebula or a pulsar, like Dikon Alpha, would create a reaction that would artificially produce vertion particles. ( ) * A Federation class 8 probe used the same casing as a photon torpedo. It could be launched from a stationary platform at warp 9 and could travel at that velocity. ( ) * Doctor Tolian Soran had Mark V torpedoes among his collection of solar probes in his lab aboard the Amargosa observatory in 2371. ( ) * When outfitted with a phase discriminator, the phase differential of the explosion of a photon torpedo can re-phased to be delivered into the variance of a different time continuum. ( ) * In 2374 and 2375 a number of standard and class-10 photon torpedoes of the were modified to be bio-molecular warheads. ( ) * The catalytic agent to recombine nucleonic particles in the atmosphere of a planet could be encased in photon torpedoes. A detonation of multiple torpedoes in the troposphere could be used to deliver the agents globally in the concussive forces of the blasts to create the isolytic reaction. In 2378, USS Voyager neutralized the antimatter radiation in Uxal's atmosphere using this method. ( ) See also * Photon burst * Photon charge * Photonic shockwave * Torpedo * Torpedo bay * Torpedo tube * Torpedo launcher Background * The term "photon torpedo" was not used until fairly late into season one of Star Trek: The Original Series, in "Arena" (episode 19). Before that, when the fired shots that looked like globular bursts, they were identified as proximity blasts from the phasers, as in . * The Making of Star Trek gave this description of the photon torpedo: "...photon torpedoes, which are energy pods of matter and anti-matter contained and held temporarily separated in a magno-photon force field. These can be used as torpedoes or depth charges, and can be set with electrochemical, proximity, and a variety of other fuses. Photon torpedoes can be fired directly at a target, laid out as a minefield, or scattered in an attacker's path as depth charges." (pg. 194) * The idea that the photon torpedoes themselves were a physical missile-like casing was never confirmed on-screen for the Enterprise of the original series. The idea of distinct "launchers" (or "tubes") for the torpedoes was first introduced in , as torpedo number 2 was fired instead of just a torpedo bank being discharged. Even as late as , Andrew Probert did not envision the photon torpedo to be a capsule, as he says in his 2005 Trekplace interview: "I envisioned them as what we saw during the TV era, they were glowing globs of plasma or some sort of energy. ''They weren't giant capsules. I envision them as big, glowy, dangerous blobs of... scariness." http://trekplace.com/ap2005int01.html * Photon torpedoes were definitely physical missile-like casings by the time of ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. First on-screen connection between photon torpedoes and antimatter came in the second season episode "Samaritan Snare" of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was not established until fourth season episode "Half a Life" that photon torpedoes have shields of their own. * seems to contradict the whole notion that there is a connection between antimatter and photon torpedoes. First the Enterprise crew attempt to destroy the Dikironium cloud creature by exploding photon torpedoes inside it, when that had no effect, they turn to the most powerful weapon available at that time: an ounce of antimatter. * The special effect of a torpedo launched with a warhead and launched as a coffin, was completely different in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". * The sound of photon torpedoes firing was that of the disintegration ray from the original . ''Technical Manuals'' According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual: * Starfleet began developing two types of photon torpedoes starting in 2215, with the primary difficulty being the design of the warhead. The first type had the deuterium and antideuterium reactants driven together like in an implosion design nuclear weapon. This torpedo had a maximum range of 750,000 kilometers, as this was the stability limit of the containment field design. It had a low rate of annihilation, and was adequate as a defensive weapon only. The second type, which became operational in 2271 had the reactants mixed together in thousands of small magnetic packets. This increased the rate of annihilation. This type had an effective tactical range from fifteen kilometers to 3.5 million kilometers. (pg. 128, 130) for a torpedo type used in 2367.}} * The second type warhead was loaded with a maximum yield of only 1.5 kilograms of antideuterium. Due to the premixed reactants, the released energy per unit time is greater than the result of a rupture in a storage pod containing 100 cubic meters of antideuterium. The torpedo had a dry mass of 247.5 kilograms. (pg. 129, 68 referenced) * As a safety measure the matter and antimatter are kept initially completely separated in the warhead. Only after the launch they are mixed during flight in the combiner tank, while still separated from each other in magnetic packets. This mixing takes a minimum of 1.02 seconds. (pg. 128, 129) * The propulsion system of the torpedoes is a warp sustainer engine. The engine coils of the torpedo grab and hold a hand-off field from the launcher tube's sequential field induction coils. A miniature matter/antimatter fuel cell adds power to the hand-off field. When launched in warp flight, torpedo will continue to travel at warp, when launched at sublight, torpedo will travel at a high sublight speed, but will not cross the warp threshold. (pg. 129) * Class VIII medium-range and class IX long-range multi-mission warp probes both use a modified photon torpedo casing and a warp sustainer engine as the power plant. (pg. 117,118) According to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual: * Torpedoes will obtain a high sublight speed when launched from a stationary launch platform. They are still effective against close-in threat vessels. * The Mark XXV torpedo was the current design as of 2375. It has a dry mass of only 186.7 kilograms. The reactant capacity has increased five percent over the previous design, leading to a slightly higher yield of 18.5 isotons. The reactants are in a cryogenic state. Effective tactical range was increased to 4.05 million kilometers. (pg. 84 and 94 referenced) of a torpedo type that had entered into service in 2371.}} * The 25 isotons is the theoretical maximum yield limit for the standard photon torpedo first developed in 2268. This theoretical maximum was finally reached with the Mark IX warhead. (pg. 85) * The self-destruct packages aboard the are photon warheads. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, self-destruct is augmented with photon warheads scaled up 1.5 times of what is normally installed on torpedoes. The self-replicating mines had a photon warhead combiner tank as their explosive charge. (pg. 93, 94, 134) According to the Star Trek Voyager Technical Guide Version 1.0: * The explosive yield (of the type-6 torpedo) can be set to ten different levels. Level 1 is just a fireworks display, level 5 is the standard yield of one kilogram antimatter charge and level 10 violates strategic arms limitation treaties. * An ship doesn't carry the material to fabricate casings for these torpedoes, and needs planetary raw materials to make new ones. that there was no way to replace the 38 torpedoes they had left at that time.}} According to the Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise: * The Beltesha Missile Systems Mark VI photon torpedo replaced the Morris Magtronics Model FP-4 torpedo during the Constitution-class refit in the 2270s. The Mark VI has four magnathrust propulsion units. (pg. 82, 85) While the ''Technical Manual''s and ''Guide''s themselves are not canon, they are Memory Alpha permitted resources. External link * cs:Fotonové torpédo de:Photonentorpedo es:Torpedo de Fotón fr:Torpille à photon ja:光子魚雷 nl:Foton torpedo Category:Weapons